Explore Montréal’s stunning collection of public art
Arts Culture, arts and heritage
Isa Tousignant
Montréal is an urban playground, an open-air dance floor and a gourmet destination, but it’s also — perhaps less famously — a living, breathing art gallery. The city is peppered with stunning works of public art of every imaginable type and medium, all of which you can explore at your own pace, for free.
Self-guide your own art hop
Your key to the best, most complete, clear and informative adventure through Montréal’s rich public art scene is the Art Public Montréal website.
Created by Tourisme Montréal in collaboration with Ville de Montréal, Art Public Montréal was founded to put Montréal on the international public art map. By pooling resources and expertise in research, collecting and promoting art, the website is able to share information and fuel excitement about the city’s extensive public art collection.
Uniting nearly 1,000 art works by close to 500 Québec and international artists, the website offers an informative page on each art piece, including details about the artist and a street map of where you can find it on the island of Montréal. It’s easy as pie to design your own route, based on your interests or artists you’re particularly drawn to, but Art Public Montréal also offers a bunch of suggested self-guided tour routes to navigate the city’s cultural riches like a pro.
Choose the perfect pre-designed tour
You’ll find many suggested self-guided tours to choose from, some that are over an hour, others that are mini-tours of around 30 minutes that make for a great way to explore Montréal’s diverse neighbourhoods. There’s a fabulous tour of the Mount Royal, as well as thematic tours like a night-time tour of Old Montréal and Quartier des spectacles. Here are some of our favourites:
The On the Walls of the Plateau, from Laurier to Mont-Royal 30-minute mini-tour is the perfect entry into the city’s famed mural art scene, visible on walls throughout this cool neighbourhood at any time of the year. Here are some cafés and restaurants to check out while you’re there.
During colder months (or sweltering hot summer days), the 1-hour Underground City tour will help you appreciate the artistic side of this 32-km long underground pedestrian network beneath Montréal’s downtown core, a shopping mecca you can enjoy for many hours.
The 30-minute Little Italy mini-tour will teach you about the history of a neighbourhood where the first Italian immigrants settled in the 19th century, centred around the stunning Jean-Talon Market (an absolute must pit-stop for foodies).
Discover downtown through the lens of the Where the Business World and Art Come Together 1¼-hour tour, a foray into the downtown business district that includes the famous fountain sculpture by Jean-Paul Riopelle, a piece of the Berlin wall, and an 18th century sculpture of the Greek goddess Amphitrite.
For a different perspective on the city, head to the Lachine neighbourhood, where 350+ years of history mingle with the gorgeous Canal and some fantastic art on Art Public Montréal’s 50-minute self-guided tour. The tour includes enigmatic inscriptions in stone, a beaver hide design etched in steel, and faces of explorers on the sails of a ship.
You’ll find many more at Art Public Montréal.
Isa Tousignant
Isa Tousignant is a Montréal-based editor and storyteller with a curiosity that runs deeper than most. She has chatted life philosophies with celebrity chefs, gemologists, arena rockers and furries. (All were transformative.) Her free time is spent designing jewellery and laughing at her husband’s jokes.